Die Pazifikküstenstraße

Another beautiful day awaits us, but first we have a hearty breakfast. We love to have cereal with fresh fruit and yogurt, along with a cup of tea or coffee, and then it's just - enjoy the view and no hustle and bustle! Simply super relaxed.

A big event awaited us. Today is the day when we can remove our 'tape' from the tattoos. We girls were super nervous, but in the end the result calmed us down and everything was well healed. After a shower and an attempt to quickly dry our towels, we continued on. Next destination: Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty.

The weather wasn't completely on our side that day, so we strolled through some shops. In the afternoon, we met the French couple we had worked with at the winery. It was crazy and nice to see them again after such a long time on the North Island. We spent the afternoon together in a pub with a few pints and exchanged our experiences. A big advantage for us - we were forced to speak English again. When you're with two or three people, you tend to quickly revert back to your native language...

The next morning, we started early as our next destination was over 300 kilometers away and it would take at least five hours to get there.

First, we crossed the area around Te Puke, which is known for its gigantic kiwi fruit plantations. The city is rightly called the 'Kiwi Fruit Capital' of New Zealand. Tim and I even caught ourselves evaluating the individual blocks based on their work and discovered that there was still a lot to prune there.

Next stop: Comvita, a kind of museum or meeting place for honey bees. We hoped to take a guided tour of the center, but they are less frequent in winter. So unfortunately, the next appointment no longer fit for us. After all, we didn't want to arrive at the campsite too late. We didn't want to leave empty-handed, so we stocked up on some skincare products and different types of honey. Manuka products are particularly popular, they are a bit more expensive, but they live up to their name and are really versatile.

Somewhere at a viewpoint in the Bay of Plenty, it was lunchtime! Homemade sandwiches and this view... let's let the pictures speak for themselves...

Shortly afterwards, we crossed the Pacific Coast Highway, which led us to the East Cape. With a length of 330 kilometers, it circumnavigates the peninsula once and offers spectacular views of the wild coast, clear streams, forests, beaches, and a landscape that still strongly represents Maori culture today. Over 80% of the land is owned by the Maori. We passed through smaller towns or clusters of houses, and overall, the area seemed sparsely populated, sometimes even a bit deserted. It's no wonder we were prepared and stocked up on enough groceries and fuel in the last major city - you never know!

It was already dusk when we reached our destination Te Araroa. At a small private campsite, we talked to the owner who didn't give us much hope for watching the first sunrise of our planet at the East Cape (only a few Pacific islands are even earlier). It had been raining in this area for a month already, and the sky was covered in thick clouds. While we were preparing our dinner, we discussed the battle plan for the next day. Even if we didn't have luck with the sunrise, we're only here once and we'll set off early in the morning...